


you look at me now

by maizonos



Series: 50 Writing Prompts Challenge [5]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Crushes, Eating, First Meetings, Fluff, Hotels, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23910214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maizonos/pseuds/maizonos
Summary: All Kihyun knows about the person he's sharing a hotel room with is that:1. His name is Minhyuk.2. He was also selected by his university to take part in this five-day trip to Jeju Island.3. He's way too attractive.
Relationships: Lee Minhyuk/Yoo Kihyun
Series: 50 Writing Prompts Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585654
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	you look at me now

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this with the prompt "a stranger" for my 50 Writing Prompts Challenge. The title was taken from GOT7's song 'Look'.

To Kihyun, having to share a room for the next few nights with a guy he barely knows isn’t too bad. He’s definitely gone through worse. But when the other guy is perhaps the most handsome man Kihyun’s ever seen, that causes some problems.

Kihyun doesn’t wish to annoy the guy, but he would really like to talk to him. And maybe get dinner with him, if he’s up for that. Kihyun isn’t the best at scoring himself dates, but he tries. For now, all Kihyun can do is watch and find the right opportunity to make a move.

All Kihyun knows about him is that his name is Minhyuk, he was also selected by his university to take part in this five-day trip to Jeju Island, and he’s way too attractive.

The beautiful Minhyuk isn’t doing much, just lying on his hotel bed while using his phone. He had just finished taking a shower not long ago, and was now wearing a loose shirt and shorts. As discreetly as he can, Kihyun watches him for a while, wondering how best to start some kind of conversation with him. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t know what time Minhyuk is going to sleep, so he needs to do something soon or leave it for another day.

Digging through his duffel bag, Kihyun ends up pulling out half the things inside. He curses himself for being so bad at starting conversations with strangers. They’d only exchanged brief greetings when they were allocated this room, and that had been it.

Kihyun yanks a jar out of his bag. It hadn’t been something he had wanted to bring, but his grandma had forced him to take it with him. Remembering the mayor in the Powerpuff Girls episodes he’d seen on TV before, an idea springs to mind.

Timidly, Kihyun gets off the armchair and walks over to where Minhyuk is. Minhyuk notices him approaching, and looks up from his phone.

“Uh, hey, Minhyuk, I need some help opening this jar. Would you mind giving it a try?” He holds the jar out in front of him, offering an awkward smile.

“Oh, sure, I can try,” Minhyuk puts his phone down and sits up, taking the jar from Kihyun. He expertly twists the lid of the jar, and after a bit, he opens the jar successfully. “Here you go. Why are you trying to open this right now, though?”

“Just a little hungry,” Kihyun lies, rubbing his temple with his index finger.

“Oh, what’s this?” Minhyuk takes a closer look at the label of the jar, and his face quickly turns to one of disgust. “Pickled cucumbers?! God, that’s gross!” He passes the jar and the lid back to Kihyun. “Sorry, I just really, really hate any kind of cucumbers.”

Kihyun chuckles, shaking his head as he accepts the opened jar and its lid from Minhyuk. “It’s okay, I don’t particularly like them either, I’m just hungry and this happened to be the only thing I brought with me to eat. Sorry for making you open something you hate so much.”

“If you were hungry enough to eat cucumbers, you should have told me!” Minhyuk says, springing to his feet. “I brought loads of snacks!” He unzips his bag and throws bags and boxes of junk food onto the bed. “I came prepared.”

“Yeah, I can definitely see that,” Kihyun says in awe as he puts the jar on the nearest table and picks up a pack of potato chips that he’s never seen before.

“You wanna eat some of these together?” Minhyuk asks, sitting down on the foot of the bed.

“Yes please,” Kihyun responds without a moment of hesitation, sitting down next to Minhyuk.

“Good.” Minhyuk rips open one of the bags and stuffs a handful of its contents into his mouth, passing the bag to Kihyun.

“Thank you,” Kihyun says as he proceeds to munch on a mouthful of Cheetos. He hadn’t actually been particularly hungry, but now it seems as if he’d suddenly grown two more stomachs. “I really should have asked if you had brought anything to eat instead of trying to eat those pickles. My grandma shoved the jar into my hands right before I left.”

“It’s fine,” Minhyuk says after swallowing some Doritos. “I’m sure someone else will want to eat those. There’s always a cucumber lover somewhere.”

Kihyun nods. “It’s actually been so long since I last had so much junk food,” he says after they finish a fourth pack.

“I eat these way too often for my own good,” Minhyuk says. “Shall we stop now? We shouldn’t sleep too late if we don’t want to fall asleep tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Our universities’ reputations are at stake here.” Kihyun stands, picking up the empty bags and disposing of them as he pads over to the bathroom to wash his hands and brush his teeth. “Thanks again for sharing these with me.”

“Don’t worry about it, it was good eating with you. Let’s talk more tomorrow!” Minhyuk chirps. He shoves the remaining packs of junk food back into his bag, yawning.

After Kihyun returns from the bathroom, Minhyuk picks up a small bag of toiletries. “You can turn the lights off if you want, it’ll take me a while to wash my face and all. Skincare is very important, you know?”

Kihyun chuckles as he sets an alarm on his phone. “Alright, I’ll just turn off the ones right above me. Can we leave the one by the door on? I’m afraid of tripping over something if I need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Minhyuk says as he starts to close the bathroom door. “Well, if you need anything, just knock or shout, I should be able to hear you.”

“Got it,” Kihyun replies, selecting an appropriate shirt for the next day and checking that his side of the room is tidy.

When he’s sure he’s ready to sleep now, Kihyun switches most of the lights off, leaving the one by the door and the one in the bathroom on, before crawling under the thick hotel blanket.

Maybe it was a bad idea to eat so much so late at night, because Kihyun is stuck in his thoughts rather than falling asleep. Or maybe it’s because he’s not at home and is instead sharing a room with an incredibly handsome guy who he wants to make out with. Either way, Kihyun keeps trying to fall asleep. Insomnia isn’t a stranger to him and he knows it could keep him up all night.

In an attempt to calm his racing mind, Kihyun lets himself think about Minhyuk (which he totally wasn’t already doing). He thinks about the last hour or two that had passed, where he’d pulled out a jar of pickled cucumbers, asking Minhyuk to help him open it, only to learn that Minhyuk despises cucumbers more than anything. Then they’d eaten a bunch of junk food together, and talked a little too. Well, it was, overall, a successful attempt to start befriending Minhyuk.

Kihyun wonders how the next few days will go. He’ll hopefully get closer to Minhyuk, and see how Minhyuk feels about going on a date with him. Maybe Minhyuk is a player (he does look a bit like one, though Kihyun doesn’t wish to jump to conclusions) and will sleep with Kihyun for one night, then disappear from his life entirely. Or maybe Minhyuk isn’t even into guys and will be weirded out if and when he learns that Kihyun has been thirsting over him ever since they first met.

The endless possibilities go on until Kihyun hears the sound of the bathroom door opening. Minhyuk treads back out, humming a song softly. Kihyun asks himself if he should say something so that Minhyuk knows he’s, unfortunately, still awake. Deciding that saying something might make it even harder for him to fall asleep because his mind might whir into action once more, Kihyun just stays still, keeping his eyes shut.

Kihyun can hear that Minhyuk is putting his things away, then there is some silence. After a bit, there’s shuffling again, and Kihyun assumes that Minhyuk is getting into bed now. Then Kihyun feels something touch his hip, and he immediately yelps, sitting up to look at the intruder.

Next to him is an alarmed Minhyuk, who sighs and smacks his forehead. “I’m so sorry for scaring you like that, Kihyun. I left my glasses in the bathroom so I couldn’t see which bed was mine, and thought this was my bed. Did I wake you up?”

“Oh, no, you didn’t. I was struggling to fall asleep. Been lying here for ages.” Kihyun frowns even though Minhyuk probably can’t see it. “I didn’t know you wear glasses,” he adds.

“I would be surprised if you did. I wear contacts during the day, so most people have never seen my glasses before,” Minhyuk says. “Okay, I should go back to my bed now.”

Kihyun wants to tell him that he doesn’t mind sharing the bed with Minhyuk, but that’s something incredibly weird to say, and might lead to him admitting that he’s attracted to Minhyuk, so he keeps his mouth shut. Minhyuk swiftly climbs out from Kihyun’s bed, and walks over to the other bed. Kihyun watches as he stands there, motionless for a moment. Then he turns back around to face Kihyun.

“I have bad news,” Minhyuk says.

“What is it?” Kihyun asks, unsure of what kind of bad news Minhyuk might suddenly have.

“You remember the jar I helped you open?” Minhyuk does not wait for Kihyun to respond before he continues. “When I opened it, some of that liquid or whatever must have spilled out, because I can just barely make out a huge stain smack dab in the middle of the bed. It smells too. I don’t know how neither of us noticed earlier.”

“We were probably too busy indulging in your snacks to pick up on that,” Kihyun says. “Please accept my sincere apologies again. Do you think the stain can be cleaned up easily?”

Minhyuk squints at the stain. “We’d have to remove the entire bedsheet and it’d probably take at least an hour to dry, even if we use the hairdryer.”

“Forget it then, you wanna just share this bed tonight?” Kihyun asks.

“Well, it’s a lot better than dirtying my clothes with this stain and suffocating myself with the smell. Are you sure you don’t mind? What if it makes it even harder for you to sleep?” Minhyuk looks at Kihyun worriedly.

Kihyun freezes. Minhyuk has a point. “Yeah...that’s true, but in terms of sharing a bed, I don’t mind. The bed isn’t that small, after all. As long as you don’t kick me off or snore in my face, it should work out!” he says, with a tinge of hope in his voice. He shifts to one side of the bed, making room for Minhyuk.

“Alright, let’s try.” And with that, Minhyuk is crawling back under Kihyun’s blanket, but this time his hand does not touch Kihyun’s hip.

Kihyun’s breathing quickens, far too conscious of how the other man is so close yet so far. He begins to worry that he’ll lose control over himself and kiss Minhyuk. “Is this comfortable for you?” he asks, unsure of whether Minhyuk has enough space.

“Yup, it’s fine. Thank goodness hotel beds are big, otherwise one of us would fall off in no time.” Minhyuk rolls over to his side so he is now facing Kihyun.

“Yeah, I agree,” Kihyun mumbles. “Are you the type to move a lot in your sleep?”

“Maybe a bit? Not as bad as some other people I know, I think.” Minhyuk runs a hand through his hair. “Though I guess we shall find out in the morning.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. I think only my arms have a tendency to move,” Kihyun says.

“Are you feeling more tired now?” Minhyuk asks.

Kihyun can tell that his eyelids are feeling heavier now, so he nods. “I think so.”

“That’s good,” Minhyuk says, smiling. “I’m known to tire people out easily when I talk to them.”

“Really? Talking to you isn’t that tiring, I think, it’s probably just that staying up for longer is slowly wearing me out.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Minhyuk says. “Shall we say goodnight now?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kihyun murmurs softly. “Goodnight, Minhyuk, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Kihyun, it was nice spending the night with you,” Minhyuk says. Kihyun can’t help but think about the other meaning of spending the night together and quickly banishes the thought from his head lest he say something odd. “Sleep well.”

“Thank you, you too.” Kihyun lets his eyes shut again, and this time he falls asleep.  
  


  


* * *

  


Kihyun reaches for his phone, sliding his finger across the screen to turn the alarm off. Then he turns back around to check on the other man, only to realise that Minhyuk is already awake. His eyes are staring right at him. “Oh, good morning,” Kihyun says. “I thought you might still be sleeping.”

Minhyuk smiles. “Good morning. I was awake for quite a while, actually.”

“Light sleeper?” Kihyun asks.

“Maybe just this once,” Minhyuk says. “I’m normally pretty hard to wake up.”

“So you were just lying there the whole time?” Kihyun asks, his mind freaking out over the possibility that Minhyuk had been watching him sleep for several minutes.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to get up because it’s really warm, sharing this bed with you.” Minhyuk smiles innocently. Kihyun is confident that it’s now gotten even warmer because his heart is melting.

“Well, we should probably get ready soon if we don’t want to be late,” Kihyun says, half ready to escape, half unwilling to move so he can continue to relish this feeling of being so close to Minhyuk, something he might not experience ever again.

“You’re right, but can you stay here for just one more minute?” Minhyuk asks.

“Uh, yeah, there’s enough time for me to, but why?” Kihyun blinks, trying to scan Minhyuk’s face for some answers.

“Just want to look at you,” Minhyuk says casually. “You look beautiful with your messed-up hair and peaceful expression right now, you know? I’m trying to capture that in my memory.”

Kihyun tries his absolute best not to kiss Minhyuk immediately. His cheeks burn. “I see…” he says after a bit. “Are you sure it’s not your freshly awake mind playing tricks on you?”

“Absolutely certain,” Minhyuk says, his eyes still focused on Kihyun. “I already thought so last night.”

“You’re the one who’s got the looks of a Greek god, though,” Kihyun says when Minhyuk still doesn’t look away.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t deny me the right to look at something else that’s beautiful.”

“Fair enough,” Kihyun huffs, feeling his heart still rattling around and threatening to burst out.

“Okay, I’m done,” Minhyuk says after another few seconds. He gets off the bed and Kihyun follows shortly. “Thanks for letting me look at you.”

“Well, what could I have done? Run off?” Kihyun says, chuckling.

“Could have called me a creep,” Minhyuk suggests, back turned as he takes a pair of jeans out of his bag.

“That would make me a hypocrite then, because I’d more or less been doing the same thing yesterday,” Kihyun says. The realisation that he’d just admitted he had been staring at Minhyuk only hits him afterwards, and by then it’s too late because Minhyuk’s turned around to look at him again.

“Really?” Minhyuk asks, his face not giving away much about how he's feeling.

“Yes,” Kihyun mumbles. His face is probably flaming red now.

"Oh…" Kihyun is sure he can see a hint of a blush on Minhyuk's face. Minhyuk scratches the back of his head. "You think I'm good-looking?"

"Unfairly so." Kihyun nods, trying his best not to look away. “Didn’t I say that you’ve got the looks of a Greek god?”

"Well...thank you. It's nice to know you think so," Minhyuk says, chuckling softly.

“Anyways,” Kihyun says, clearing his throat and standing up straight, “I’ll get changed now.” He makes a beeline for the bathroom with his clothes clutched to his pounding heart, shutting the door behind him.

Minhyuk thinks he’s beautiful. And now Minhyuk knows that he thinks Minhyuk’s beautiful too. Now all that’s left is for Kihyun to ask Minhyuk out. Shaking his head, Kihyun fumbles with the buttons of his shirt. It’s too soon for this. They’re not quite friends yet, are they? If he really wants to know, he should ask.

“So...are we friends?” he asks when he exits the bathroom after spending a century combing his hair and brushing his teeth. He picks up his water bottle, taking a drink from it.

Minhyuk blinks for a moment. “Well, yeah, I guess we are. Or are you saying you want to be more than that?”

Kihyun almost chokes on the water. “Ahh, um, maybe…?” His eyes dart around the room, not sure of where to look.

“It’s okay,” Minhyuk says as he picks up his own set of clothes. Kihyun looks at him now, unsure of what he means. “I’ll admit I would like to date you, but I don’t want to rush anything either. So you don’t really need to tell me right now. Let’s just see how things go, okay?”

“That’s cool with me,” Kihyun says, unable to believe what he had just heard. “Perfect, even,” he adds.

“Excellent.” Minhyuk smiles at him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism and any comments are more than welcome. I hope you have a good day! :D I'd also like to thank beta_find on Twitter for helping me get a beta reader for this fic and the beta reader Ash for going through this once. :D
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
> CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


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